'Wobble Club' man loses illness battle 08 February 2007 EDITORIAL - herts.advertiser@archant.co.uk BRAVE Motor Neurone Disease sufferer Harmen van Rijs, whose illness resulted in thousands of pounds being raised for research into the neurological disease, died on Sunday. Harmen, aged 43, who had moved from Sandridge to a specially -adapted bungalow in Kimpton prior to his death in the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, was the inspiration behind The Wobbly Club. It was set up with his wife Helen to raise awareness and funds for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research and events such as a quiz night, a horse show, a picnic-in-the-paddock and a sponsored walk by Helen's brother helped raise a total of £13,360. The Wobbly Club got its name because Helen told friends that even before Harmen had been diagnosed with the illness, he had wobbly legs. The couple had married in 2001 and ever since Helen knew him, he had suffered from a bad knee. Blue But it took a local physiotherapist to recognise that the problem lay with his central nervous system and he was finally diagnosed with MND. For some time after his diagnosis, Dutch-born Harmen continued to work as a global risk accountant in London, driving himself into the capital in a hand-controlled car. The couple eventually moved to Kimpton where Helen gave up work to care for her husband. When his care became too much to cope with at home, he went into the hospice where he died on Sunday with Helen at his bedside. Helen said this week: "The people there were truly amazing and allowed me just to be his wife rather than his carer. He died as I stroked his face and once at rest became the beautiful man I married." Harmen's funeral is being held at Garson Crematorium at 1.20pm on Saturday and the family has asked mourners to wear blue and be dressed in something comfortable and casual. Donations in his memory can be made to the Hospice of St Francis via www.justgiving.com/harmen